September 7th was our Annual Day of Prayer for the staff of InterVarsity’s National Service Center in Madison. NSC staff took time at the beginning of the school year to pray for our ministry on 564 campuses across the U.S. as well as our partnerships with student ministries in 150 countries. We also prayed for those whose lives have been impacted by Hurricane Katrina. InterVarsity president Alec Hill sent the following email to all U.S. staff.
Dear InterVarsity Staff,
Gulf Coast Fund Established
I am pleased to announce the establishment a special Gulf Coast Fund to support our staff and student work in Louisiana and Mississippi. “When one suffers, we all suffer (1 Cor. 12:26).” I encourage staff, students and friends to contribute at https://www.intervarsity.org/donate/. Gifts may also be sent to Madison and designated to the Gulf Coast Fund.
Update on our Staff and Student Work
As Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans, our local campus staff, Myron Crockett, and his wife, Alyssa, evacuated to Houston. We are thankful for their safety. Within a few days, he returned to Louisiana to help with relief efforts through Interfaith Fellowship Church in New Iberia. The church is pastored by the father of a chapter member at Tulane University and serves as a center for relief distribution. Alyssa is with her mother in Phoenix, but will move to Baton Rouge where her job is being relocated. They are still unsure of the losses sustained to their belongings (including a second car) in New Orleans.
Deep South Area Director Chris Klingenfuss and his wife Erin rode out the storm in their home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, but were forced to leave as conditions deteriorated after the storm. Their house withstood the storm with only minor damage, but the area in general is in bad shape. They expect to return to Hattiesburg soon.
Contact with students and faculty from the impacted universities has been sporadic. Some are engaged in relief efforts; some obtained emergency transfers to other schools; some (in Mississippi) are waiting to see what the universities will be able to offer. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Tulane, Loyola and the University of New Orleans hope to reopen for spring term.
Southeast Region
Many of the region’s donors also suffered great loss. Regional Director Bruce Alwood writes that “the region is on the front end of addressing funding issues, student recovery and shepherding issues and we need to consider the long term questions of how to support our colleagues.”
NSC Day of Prayer
Today, NSC personnel spent the day in prayer. We will continue to remember our staff, faculty, students and alums in the areas of our country affected by hurricane Katrina.
May the God of Abraham, the father of all of faith’s pilgrims, be with you.
Alec
